Crest's Journey
by Jester ClownGirl
Summary: Crest has no home. She is an orphan. Her only friends - her only family - are her Pokémon. Then she meets Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, and her whole life changes.


CHAPTER 1 –

It was raining. It was cold. The concrete and paved streets were dark with rain, and littered with puddles. Water thundered against windows and walls, drumming a loud, constant beat against the wood, brick, and glass. There weren't many people out – it wasn't the weather for idly walking through the streets – and those that were out were carrying large umbrellas or wearing raincoats.

Crest watched the rain fall from under the shelter of an awning for a shop that closed on Sundays. She was lucky; if it were any other day, the shop's owner would have come running out with a broom and chased her away, called the police, or worse, called the orphanage Crest had run away from three years previously, long ago.

Next to her, her three Pokémon; a Ponyta with blue flames instead of red that she'd called Flare, and two Eevees; a brother and sister pair she'd called Day and Eve – Day being the younger, female Eevee, and Eve being the older, male Eevee – were huddled together away from the rain. Flare didn't like going out into the rain, as it made her mane and tail flicker uncomfortably, and Day and Eve simply did not like getting wet; a fact that they'd made blatantly obvious many times before. Until the rain stopped, there was nowhere for her to go; she didn't even trust the Pokémon Centre not to turn her over to the orphanage, so she avoided it as much as possible.

"Raticate!" a large, brown Pokémon came running around the corner, long front teeth glinting in the dim light. Day and Eve huddled under Flare, and Crest shifted to stand in front of her Pokémon as the Raticate scrambled in their direction.

Crest didn't trust some types of Pokémon; and Pokémon like Raticate and Arbok were at the top of the list of those she didn't trust. It was their nature she didn't trust though; she didn't mind their appearance, though it was admittedly scary.

The Raticate ignored her, and kept running in their direction. She knew it was going to attack; it didn't seem to care that there was a human between it and what were obviously its targets.

"Damn it, where'd that little menace go _this _time?!" A voice cut through the near-silence like a knife, and the Raticate instantly stopped and stiffened. Crest looked up, as the Raticate looked around, just as a man dressed completely in black, with a black cap pulled over low over his face, partially covering his eyes, and a big red R on the front of his shirt, came running around the corner, with a Pokéball in his hand.

"There you are, you pest! Return!" the man held the Pokéball out, and the Raticate was drawn inside in a beam of red light. Shaking his head, the man moved to put the Pokéball away, when he spotted Crest, standing under the awning with her three Pokémon.

"Oh, wow...That's a Shiny Ponyta! I'd get promoted for sure if I gave that to the boss!" the man said, and Crest narrowed her eyes. Flare snorted and shook her head at the man, and Crest placed a hand on the Pokémon's neck to calm her.

Day and Eve peered around Crest, and then darted out into the rain before Crest could stop them. They ran right up to the man, grabbing the legs of his trousers and pulling under the sound of ripping fabric filled the air, and the pair trotted back to Crest with smug airs, each carrying a piece of torn fabric in their mouths.

Crest tried her hardest to hide her smile and laughter while Day and Eve sat down behind her again, and spat out the pieces of cloth, as if it left bad tastes in their mouths.

The man, however, noticed her failed attempts to hide her smile and her laughter. Crest glanced at him for a second as Flare rested her head on her shoulder, and her laughter instantly stopped at the sight of the angry look in his eyes.

"You'll pay for that, you little brat!" he hissed, and Crest tilted her head.

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't have any money. I don't have anywhere to put it." she said truthfully, indicating to her clothes; a blue T-shirt with a rip in it, and a pair of black shorts with tattered edges. She wore no shoes, and had no coat.

"I meant with the Ponyta." He said, taking a step towards Crest and her Pokémon. Crest crouched down, picked up Day and Eve, and placed them gently on Flare's back.

"I don't have a _Ponyta_. I only have Flare, Day, and Eve." Crest said as she checked to make sure Day and Eve weren't going to fall off.

Without so much as a word from Crest, Flare stepped out into the rain, despite her dislike of getting wet. She snorted and shook her head as rain splashed onto her mane and tail, but besides that, did nothing.

"just hand over the Pokémon, brat!" The man snapped, and Crest could tell from his voice that his patience was wearing thin. She turned her head, and glared at him as she stepped out into the rain, her orange eyes glittering with a dangerous, angry fire.

"The day I give you my friends is the day all the fire Pokémon in this world become ice Pokémon. As that will never happen, you will never get your hands on my friends." Her voice was low and dangerous, as if she were older than her size let on (which she wasn't).

The man paused, and Crest turned her head away. When she glanced back, he'd disappeared. She tilted her head, and then tapped Flare's side. Snorting again, Flare started walking, with Day and Eve peering over her mane, and Crest walking alongside her, ignoring the rain soaking into her already damp clothes.

Even during the winter, even when it rained, Goldenrod City was alive with activity. Inside the smaller stores, a few people buzzed around, taking their time to browse the shelves crammed with goods. In the big department store, people ran past the big windows, rushing to find what they wanted before it ran out. In the houses, families gathered in front of , watching whatever their channel-surfing had lead them to, or teenagers lay on their stomachs on the floor, flicking through books or magazines and talking on their PokéGears. In the Goldenrod Radio Tower, people lined up for the daily prize draw, or were answering the five simple questions for the Radio Card for the PokéGear.

Even outside, there was activity. There were still people outside, though not many, and there were the Pokémon that didn't mind the rain; the bird-types, bug-types, water-types, grass-types, and normal-types.

As she walked through the streets, empty but for a few people in raincoats, Crest watched a small flock of Pidgey fly overhead, and saw a few Murkrow settle on a high-up ledge on the Goldenrod department store. A lone Skarmory sailed high overhead, disappearing in and out of the clouds.

"You know, when you said some little kid had a Shiny Ponyta, I didn't think that the kid was going to be _this_ young. I expected a too-big-for-their-boots trainer, not a little kid who hasn't even had her tenth birthday yet." Crest heard Day and Eve growl from their perches on Flare's back, and turned, eyes locking onto four people standing behind her; three men and one woman, all dressed in matching black outfits with their hats pulled low over their eyes, and big red R's on their shirt fronts. She recognised one of the men by the tattered ends of his trousers, where Day and Eve had ripped pieces off in warning to him not to mess with them, Crest, or Flare.

"Don't underestimate those Eevees; she doesn't need to say a word to get them to attack; they just do it." The man from earlier said, his eyes narrow as he glared at Crest, who simply smirked at him.

"Hi, sweetie. Would you mind letting us have that beautiful shiny Ponyta of yours? We can pay you for it, or trade you another Pokémon in return for it. We promise she'll be well looked after. Our boss is a... Pokémon collector and he would simply love to have such a fine Pokémon in his collection." The woman said, stepping towards Crest, who could tell that the smile on her face was completely forced, and the sugariness of her voice was far too sweet to be anything but false.

"I don't have a Ponyta. I only have Flare, Day, and Eve. They are my friends, and I won't give them to anyone. You can't have them. Your boss can't have them. No one can have them, and you can't make me give them to you." Crest said, her hand on Flare's back, between Day and Eve.

"Listen, you little brat; just had over the Pokémon before I'm forced to –" the man from before started, but whatever he'd been about to say was cut off by another voice coming from behind Crest.

"Enough. You cannot even get a Pokémon off an eight-year-old without resorting to violence, and that disappoints me." Crest watched the four in front of her stiffen; straightening up and standing as stiff and still as beanpoles. She turned, and narrowed her eyes at the man standing behind her.

"Who are you?" she asked, keeping her hand on Flare's back at all times, while Day and Eve growled at the stranger from Flare's back. The man smirked; she could tell he smirked often, and took a step forward, which caused Flare to snort, shake her head, and thud one hoof on the ground a few time restlessly.

"My name is Giovanni; I am the boss of these four," he indicated behind Crest, though she didn't spare another glance at the four standing behind her.

"Are you really a Pokémon collector?" She asked, shifting her hand to stroke Day's tail as said Eevee's growl intensified, and she looked as if she were about to jump off Flare's back and attack the man in front of them.

"Of sorts." Came the reply. He took another step forward, so he was almost close enough to touch Flare, who snorted again and shook her head. Her hooves clicked on the paved ground as the Pokémon took a small step back; Crest knew from Flare's reactions that she needed to be wary of the man.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not giving Flare, Day, or Eve to anyone." Crest stated, gently rubbing her fingers against Day's tail, to help calm the Eevee down. The tail flicked back and forth under her fingertips, as if Day wasn't sure what to do; follow Crest's silent commands, or attack the stranger in front of them.

Eventually, Day slid into Crest's arms, her brown eyes fixed on the man as she settled comfortably against Crest. Eve slipped forward to sit where Day had previously been sitting, his eyes still glued to the man standing before them that he didn't trust.

"I'm disappointed. Such Pokémon would be fine additions to my... collection." Crest noticed the slight hesitation before he said "collection", and narrowed her eyes as she wondered just what he _really _wanted her Pokémon for.

"I know you are lying. I don't like people who lie to me." Crest said, scratching underneath Day's chin as the Pokémon growled slightly again.

"I wouldn't dream of lying to someone as smart as you." Giovanni said, smirking again. Crest frowned and narrowed her eyes.

"Let's start again, shall we?" he held out his hand, and Crest stared at it for a second before lifting Day back onto Flare's back. "I am Giovanni." She shook his hand warily.

"Crest." She replied, pulling her hand free as quickly as she could.

"Crest? An interesting name." Giovanni looked towards the near empty street.

"Where are you headed? Perhaps we could escort you to your parents?"

"My parents are dead." Crest stated the fact simply enough, as if the fact that her parents weren't alive anymore didn't hurt as much as it really did. Flare snorted, and lowered her head, and both Day and Eve squeaked and seemed to deflate a little on Flare's back, their eyes saddened.

There was a moment of silence, and Crest risked a glance behind her. The four behind her weren't looking in her direction; they were looking at anything but her. She glanced forward again. Giovanni wasn't looking at her either; his eyes were averted ever-so-slightly, so he was staring past her instead of directly at her. Crest flicked her eyes to Flare, who nudged the side of her face with her nose.

Crest had known Flare, Day, and Eve all her life. Flare was the only offspring of her Mother's Rapidash, and Day and Eve had been born while she'd still been a baby. Due to the fact that she had blue flames instead of red, Flare had not only been shunned by the entire herd of Rapidash and Ponyta Crest's Parents had kept, but had also been the victim of many attempted kidnappings, and failed attempts to be bought, though Crest refused to let anyone ever buy Flare, as the special Ponyta belonged to her, not to her parents.

Day and Eve had been considered the "runts" of their litter, and it had taken Crest's parents a lot of work to raise the two neglected baby Eevees, the special Ponyta neglected by all but her mother, and Crest, as well as keep their Day care and Breeding Centre going.

They were the best friends Crest had ever had, and they'd been the only ones she been able to keep, to run away with, the day her parents died. All the other Pokémon that had been on her family's farm; the Eevees and their evolved forms – there had been several of each form – and the herd of Rapidash and Ponyta that her parents had raised themselves, had been taken away by strange people. She refused to give them up; which was why she'd run away from an orphanage that had found her, when she found out she wasn't allowed to keep her Pokémon.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go." Crest finally broke the silence. Flare started walking about, shaking her mane at Giovanni as she passed him. Crest followed along behind, eyes downcast, glad that the few tears that had escaped her eyes were mixed with the rain and were therefore invisible.

"And where _are_ you going?" Giovanni inquired, turning slightly as she walked past him.

"Anywhere. I don't know where, and I don't care, either." Crest replied, keeping her head turned away from him to avoid looking at him.

"Then come with me." Crest's head snapped up and around; she stared at him for a moment before narrowing her eyes in mistrust and disbelief.

"But –" the combined voices of the four lackeys made her twitch, but Giovanni held up a hand to silence them before they could voice their protests.

"There is nothing to gain from leaving a child to live on the streets, except for her eventual death, if she cannot look after herself." Crest twitched at that, since she'd been living on the streets with her Pokémon since she was five, and she'd managed to look after herself _just_ fine, but she said nothing.

There was something about his voice, something about the way he vaguely explained himself to his lackeys, that made her wonder if he was simply using what she supposed was his form of offering to take her in as an excuse to get his hands on her Pokémon.

Which she knew it could be. There was no way he could possibly think she could be fooled by him; she'd already seen through his lie once; she could tell his type of "collecting" was different to that of the other Pokémon collectors she she'd seen, simply by looking at him.

"And Flare, Day, and Eve can come too?" she asked, playing the innocent card.

"Of course. I wouldn't have it any other way." The lackeys started to protest again, but Giovanni silenced them again with a sharp look in their direction.

Crest tilted her head as she kept her gaze firmly fixed of Giovanni. "and what if I decide that I don't want to go with you; that I'd rather stay here? What if I decided to say no?" she asked, while Flare snorted next to her, uncomfortable in the rain for long periods of time.

"Then I'd have to say I'd be _very_ disappointed." That was all he said in reply, but Crest noticed that he clenched the hand he had held up to silence his four lackeys, and glanced at the in time to see two of them slink off into the shadows.

"So...my choices are – go with you, and let you use Flare, Day, and Eve for whatever it is you want them for, or to say no, I won't go with you, and have my three friends kidnapped by the two lackeys sneaking up behind me as I speak?" she asked, grinning when she heard one of the pair trip over something in surprise since they'd been caught out.

Giovanni said nothing for a while, and then smirked.

"You are quicker and smarter than you let on, Crest." He told her, and she grinned.

"Thanks; it comes from living on the streets for three years." She said, her grin widening as the two lackeys slunk past her with disappointed, annoyed glares at being caught out.

"Yes or no?" Giovanni asked, and Crest looked at him, and then at her Pokémon.

"I don't have anywhere to go. I don't have anything to look forward to at the end of the day. I don't have anyone or anything besides Flare, Day, and Eve. Where I go and what I do doesn't matter to me; my parents aren't around to tell what is right and what is wrong." She looked up at the grey sky, and sighed.

A hand rested on her shoulder, and she glanced at it for a moment, and then closed her eyes and sighed again. Then she grinned.

"I'll go with you; I've got nothing better to do. If I say no, I'll just end up wandering around Goldenrod for the rest of the day, and possibly the rest of my life." She said, glancing over to where Flare was standing and shaking her head at the rain dripping onto her mane, and Day and Eve were huddled together in a damp, furry, brown lump on Flare's back.

"You are a smart little girl, Crest." Giovanni commented, and Crest grinned again as his hand left her shoulder.

"Like I said, it comes from living on the streets for three years." She stated, poking her tongue out at the four lackeys, who were finally voicing their protests without being silenced.

_Whatever happens,_ Crest thought as Flare nudged her shoulder gently, and Giovanni indicated for her to follow him, _I'm going to make the most out of this decision. _

Chapter 1 End


End file.
